Egypt Update 02

We have been in Aswan for yesterday and today. Today was pretty relaxing, we took a walk up to the Nubian Museum. Man, its hot out even in the morning. Then we saw the unfinished obelisk in the afternoon. We waited until later (for it to cool down) until we headed out again, this time out to Elephantine Island to visit the Nubian Villages.

We will be leaving for Abu Simbel at 3am tomorrow morning (that's where they have Ramsee's temple.) Then later tomorrow, we will be catching a boat -- known as the felucca -- and crusing the Nile for about 2 days and 2 nights until we reach Luxor (where there is the Valley of the Kings).

We have taken a lot of pictures and are getting a little tired of the heat and the temples, but they are still cool none the less. The 2 days on the felucca will be a good break from sight seeing, and just crusing the Nile should be aweome. Though 2 days of no showering is not exactly my cup of tea, but I guess that's the price of the cruise.

We had some really good Egyptian food today. I had pigeon, for the first time. I also bought some spices from the market place last night. My mom would really like it here. They bargain here like no tomorrow. Although it is interesting and fun, it is also very tiring.

Until then, goodnite, and take care!

Egypt Update

Hellos all,

Thanks for checking back! I am now in Egypt!!! Have arrived here a couple of days ago, and just took the night train to Aswan and arrived this morning. Finally got to shower. Walking around in a desert all day is tiring and dirty, so this shower was a. maz. ing. :)

My few days in Germany was very fun and relaxing. We stayed with my friend, Carmen, relatives and they spoiled us with foods. Lots of it. They also had 4 little kids, ages 10, 7, 6 and 3. They were so much fun, and had so much energy. I won't be posting any pictures yet, the connection is a little slow and internet costs money. But, here is a brief update of what I have been up and will be doing (I took it out of an email I send home -- yes, I am lazy)

Enjoy!!!
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Been in Egypt for a couple of days now. Though it seems to be longer. Egypt is awesome, it was a little intimidating at first, but now I think that we are getting more used to it.

The three of us stick out like sore thumbs, and feel somewhat like zoo animals being watched all the time. Though I just think it's cus they don't see a lot of Asian people around here. They are friendly and like to joke around a lot. We have all gotten a few marriage proposals. LOL.

One of my favourite pick up lines:
guy: Miss, you dropped something back there.
me: I did?
guy: Yes, miss. You dropped my heart. **holds hand to chest**

Too funny.

We went to see the Pyramids yesterday and I rode on a camel! The pyramids are so huge and it was really amazing. At midday, it is extremely hot in Egypt, although it is dry and not humid at all.

Last night we took a night train to get to Aswan. Here we will be visiting some temples and the High Dam. And there IS such thing as Kom Ombo!! Its a small place with a temple there and we are going there in a few days. We will also be riding along the Nile on a Felucca.

Count down to Egypt and Germany

I'm about 48 hours away from leaving my house for my graduation trip.

I don't like having long count downs, you know - 17 weeks until [enter super fun activity here]. Not that there is anything wrong with that, it just makes me feel old. Like my life isn't really worth living until then. 48 hours, I can deal with not doing much except running around like a maniac to prepare for my trip. (ISIC card, USD, EuroRail Pass, Canadian flag pin, etc etc)

So I'm a travel junkie. This started when I had a work term in Boston (first time I stepped foot off of Canadian soil!), and then my 4 months of exchange in Singapore last year consisted of various adventures in Malaysia (Kuala Lampur and Taman Negara), Indonesia, Thailand (Bangkok and Krabi), Vietnam and Cambodia. Major, major dosage of traveling for myself, a newbie. Then a couple of short trips, with my family to Cuba and Montreal last summer. Tres fun.

[Note: You can click on the green words to read about that archived post, instead of searching through my many archives]

Traveling was like having my eyes opened for the first time to all the wonders I had no idea existed in the world. I felt so naive and ignorant. So insignificant, yet realize it is people -- individual much like you and I -- who shape the history of our world. Since it was my first time traveling, I was learning a lot. I was lucky to have friends who have had some experience traveling before, and they were equipped with Lonely Planet guides and first aid kits, and other essentials.

I also learned a lot myself. I learned that I loved learning about different cultures and also about where I came from. My dad was born in Vietnam and my mom was born in Cambodia. I was blessed to have the opportunity to visit their homeland.

I knew (not just believed) how fortunate I was to be born in Canada and have so many opportunities (freedom, women's rights, education - to name a few) that many people can only dream about. I learned that how fortunate I was to be given the opportunity to be multi-lingual, and how there are so many languages I want to learn. I also learned how much culture is reflected in the languages of different countries. In my feeble attempt to learn Vietnamese.

I learned that no matter where I go, no matter how many cool sites I see, the best part of journey is coming home and being able to share it with the people I cared about. My family and friends.

I also learned a lot about myself as a traveler. I learned that I am definitely not a country hopper. I would much rather spend more time in one single country and immersing myself in it's culture than seeing many countries in a short amount of time. It feels unjust for me to spend only a couple of days in country and claiming I have "been there."

I also don't like to be bossed around. You know those Chinese tours, where they stop at a city and you have 15 minutes to explore before you're herded back onto the bus for another 10 hour ride. Yea. Not my cup of tea. It feels unjust to the country I am visiting and to myself and others who are visiting.

So unless the place I'm traveling to is unsafe without a guide (ie. trekking in the Himilayas, Central and South American (?) ), I usually try to stay away from tours. Another exception is when I want to learn a lot the history, especially at historically significant sites. I can only get so much from staring at rubble :)

I will keep updating this blog with stories of my travels, so check back if you are interested. In the meantime, here are some of the things on our itinerary for Egypt:

Watching Egyptian Belly dancing. Maybe take some classes? So beautiful!
Visiting the port of Alexandria. Named after Alexander the Great from the Greek Empire.
Of course, the Pyramids of Giza. I have to ride a camel here.
Visiting the Western Desserts. Ever heard of sand surfing? What else would you do in a dessert, right?Diving in the Red Sea. I heard they have awesome wreck dives. Good thing I know how to swim this time around!
Visiting Mount Sinai. Isn't this gorgeous?
Visiting the mosques and museums of Cairo.
Visiting Luxor and the Valley of the Kings. Hello, Ramses the Great and King Tut.

King Tut was actually a very insignificant figure in terms of contribution to the Egyptian History, but more to come on that later.
Of course, I have to ride a felucca along the Nile. This looks so peaceful and gorgeous.
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Update 1: My song list is now updated. The theme is "girl power" :)
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Update 2: So I decided to take a look through my old blog posts. Horrible. Very bad grammar, and not too many pictures. So I took a couple hours this morning to go through them and make them a little more presentable. They also have some pretty pictures in them to keep you entertained.

The links are found above in the third paragraph. Just click on green works for the respective posts. Or you click on the "travel" label at the bottom of this post to get all my travel related posts. Toodles!

Made of Honor

One word: McHotsalot

Boys vs Girls: On "friendship"

So my girlfriends and I got to talking the other day about relationships and friendships between guys and girls. There have been many such conversations before on this topic, and there seems to be trend regarding "friendships".

Girls: We categorize guys into one of two groups: friends or more than friends. There is nothing in between. That complicates things.

Boys: They don't categorize. Girls are girls. Friends can become more than friends, it depends.

One of the most frustrating things for a girl, is to not know where she stands, and which category the guy fits into. I mean, it's ok to be stuck in between for a short while, when you're figuring out if they are one or the other, but not for a long time. Based on the categorization, she can go from there into either 1) friend mode or 2) more than friend mode. My girlfriends and I thought this was fairly straight forward, no? Fellas?

I get to wear a Sari!!

So, my bff from high school is getting married! So the next couple of months after coming back from Germany and Egypt, I'll be busy running errands for the soon-to-be-bride.

I've mostly been to Chinese weddings, and I have to say that they are so boring. It's nice, but boring. Lots of picture taking, waiting, and talking, until - finally - the food arrives.

A few years ago, my neighbor's son got married and my family was invited. It was so much fun! Lots of music, dancing and other festivities. You don't really get that at a Chinese wedding, most of the ones I've been to are very formal. I don't believe Chinese people dance. I don't believe it's in the genes.

Anyway, all I know is that I get to wear a Sari! I'm so excited. They are so beautiful and graceful. Though I think they look best on Indian women. I hope that I may be able to bring some justice to the sari when I wear mine. And I really hope I don't do something silly and trip on mine.

Doesn't Katherine Heigl just look gorgeous in the sari. Well, actually, she just looks good anything. Tres jealous. :)